Precious Child  (Project ‘Nidhi’) ‘Possibility of our children is our responsibility.’ (Class for the Family Apostolate Resource Persons Of the Archdiocese of Trivandrum on 5th Oct ‘13) Project ‘nidhi’ is a dream project, shall we call it a golden dream! ‘Nidhi’ means treasure. Last week, the Archeological Survey of India…began excavation work in search of gold at the ruins of a fort of Raja Ram Baksh in the Buxar area after the head priest of the Shobhan Temple in Unnao, Shobhan Sarkar, claimed he was informed in his dream of a treasure of gold at the site by the Raja.’ (The Hindu, Editorial ‘A golden dream’ of Tuesday, October 22, 2013, Thiruvananthapuram edition.) Treasure hunting in spite of its accompanying hurdles and hardships did not deter anyone venturing into it both in real life as well as in popular culture like novels and movies. Bible too has a parable in Matthew 13:44 which speak of a man finding a treasure in a field ‘goes and sells all that he has and buys that field’.   The treasure we are speaking of here is none other than our children.  Strength as a community: Annie Mascareen (1902-1963) Lourdammal Simon (1912/ Minister of Fisheries 1957-62 Manakkudi with Nesamoni Maria Desalphin IAS 1970s Nanjil Kumaran IPS Chennai Commissioner of Police (Now an Asst. Commissioner…) Richard Fernandez (Industrialist-Plastic), Johnson S JPR (Educationist…)/Muttom Port Cyril (Archeology Dir., Pondichery) Musicians (Arulappan) Cured fish exporters Sanju Samson (Cricket)/ Foot ball/ Sports and games Rajakkamangalam Port (Village Trust) Shark hunting Captains and engineers in ships IT and other capabilities and foreign migration Religious heads… Dioceses Multi-crore churches, halls, rectories and shrines…! Art and literature VSSC/ISRO, Titanium, Airport, and now Vizhinjam Container Terminal Colleges-Engineering, Nursing etc (Law) Rather exclusive right over the sea and its resources Matha Amirthananatha Mayi Vyasan They all struggled in an unfriendly and challenging environment. Now, we can provide conducive environs as in a laboratory situation for much higher contribution… Hence, the need for this pet project… Weakness… Illiteracy (Trivandrum-coast- along with Malappuram) Dependency (Kept insulated from the main stream…) Health and hygiene (open defecation/Karumkulam Panchayat) The constant in-fights and the ensuing litigation and so on… Celebrations, and now the heavy dowry system A Valiant People: Fighting with nature so directly and consistently Colachel War – a victory of its kind with a European force…! A contrast: SNDP [Temple entry, Samapandi etc. Channar Lahala/Melmundu samaram…] ‘To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.’ -Barbara Johnson. Kofi Annan says: ‘There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.’ Khalil Gibran in his ‘The Prophet’ says: ‘Your children are not your children./ They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself./ They come through you but not from you,/ and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.// You may give them your love but not your thoughts,/ for they have their own thoughts./ You may house their bodies but not their souls,/ for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit in your dreams even./ You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you…’ ·         ‘What then will this child be?’ Lk 1:66/ 1:40 ·         Luke says that ‘Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.’ 2:52 ·         In Mk, 10: 14-16 Jesus says: ‘…for to such (children) belongs the kingdom of God… whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it…’ ·         ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ Lk 11:27 ·         Women in Palestine were longing to become the mother of the promised one! ·         ‘aandoru pillai aayiram peralaam/ Yesuvaippola innoru pillai Eesanaikkette inipperavendum.’ – Kannadasan in ‘Yesu Kaaviyam.’ ·         ‘Kuzhanthaiyum deivamum gunatthaal ontru…’ ·         Imagine an unwanted pregnancy and thereby an unwanted child! We all ‘care enough to help (our) your child deal with the challenges in society, education and relationships… today’s world is in fast track… unless they (we) put their children on this track, they will be losers… Raising a child to deal with challenges, develop a deep sense of well being, have sound moral values and still handle the often changing and devious ways of the world around them leads to endless contradictions in messages received, values learnt and behaviors exhibited… Since children today seem to have abundant energy… and because they are very quick in learning both the good and bad, parenting becomes a task that needs to bring about a true balance and consistency through effective practices.’ o    avoiding unproductive quantity time and spending quality time with children… p. x o    from the first day of childbirth parents need to be proactive… (Aarti C Rajaratnam & Brinda Jayaraman, Notion Press, Chennai, 2013 in ‘Parenting – Innocence to Inner Sense’) There is a great saying that ‘it is better to build than to repair.” It is all the more true of the child which is the ‘father of the nation.’ A man’s ‘fate’ is fixed while he is still in the womb. How safe and convenient that would be to provide everything possible to that child to make him/her a promise for the future! After being born, the task would be much difficult with our having not much control over the situations around. Learning begins at conception instead of preschool. When it comes to brain development, an early start is far better than later. Mothers understand the amount of brain development going on in the womb. Even our great epic Mahabharata gives testimony to it through the story of Abhimanyu. While in the womb, Abhmanyu heard his uncle Krishna explain the chakravyuha strategy of Dronacharya. His mother Subhadra was listening. Even before Krishna could finish telling how one gets out of it she fell asleep and Abhimanyu could not register this vital information. It became disastrous when he was in Kurushetra!  May be the gospel story of the babe (John) leaping in the womb of Elizabeth hearing the greeting of Mary, the mother of Jesus has a similar message! (Lk 1:66). This equally applies to every child born into this world of immense possibilities. Who of us won’t love to see our children ‘grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ like Jesus. (Lk 3:52). Which mother won’t be earning to be told to her son, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ (Lk 11:27).   At the birth of John the Baptist, all who heard the developments in connection with his naming wondered saying, ‘what then will this child be?’ As parents, how many times have we heard, "… is not working to her full potential," or "… is capable of much more"? Many of us have encountered these words on school report cards, during teacher conferences, from athletic coaches, music teachers, or from family members. What is potential? What unleashes potential? Shall we call it the immeasurable power within! Dictionary defines potential/ possibility as "power; existing in possibility; capable of development into actuality." Potential may be an internal passion; it may be determined by circumstances and opportunities; or it may be a combination all of these ideas. Now, let us explore strategies and ideas for freeing the power within our children to discover their interests, talents and to develop their strengths so that their dreams may be realized. Children need opportunities for growth. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Children give us enough clues that help us recognize their potential. As parents, we need to open our eyes to the everyday actions of our children. Parents can help their children find the power within themselves by using the process we call Observe, Reflect, and Respond (ORR). ORR is a model for parents to think about and act on their children's behaviors. Observing and reflecting on behaviors …can alert us to the presence of potential. Once the behaviors are recognized, our responses may help that potential become performance. When observing and reflecting about our children, it is helpful to begin by understanding what each of following categories of characteristics means in order to organize our thinking.

"Within every child's brain is a mind teeming with ideas and dreams and abilities unrealized. The greatest thing we can do - as parents, teachers and friends - is to nourish that potential, both intellectual and humanitarian, so that each mind can fulfill its promise to the benefit of mankind." (Dr. Ben Carson) It becomes clear that ‘the possibility of our children is our responsibility.’

While a baby is in the womb, the brain grows more rapidly than in any other stage of infant or child development. Because a baby’s brain triples in size before his first birthday it would make sense for a pregnant mother to supplement her diet with brain-building nutrients as well as enrich her environment with developmentally appropriate sounds and images. 

‘Foetuses learn, memorise words’ by D. Balasubramanian in The Hindu, Science & Tech page of Thursday, October 17, 2013 of Thiruvananathapuram edition says: ‘…during the foetal period, the growing baby’s brain develops progressively and extensively. As the brain develops, new neuronal connections called synapses are made. This helps in efficiently recognizing, analyzing and recording complex information. In other words, the baby is growing not just in the body but in the brain as well’.

"Early childhood" is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling – five years in most nations.

Researchers and early childhood educators view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process. Educators refer to parents as the child's "first and best teacher".

Infant education is the education of children before they would normally enter school. The term "Infant" is typically applied to children between the ages of 1 month and 12 months.

Early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of a child's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Growth of mental and physical abilities progress at an astounding rate and a very high proportion of learning take place from birth to age six. It is a time when children particularly need high quality personal care and learning experiences.

Education begins from the moment the child is brought home from the hospital and continues on when the child starts to attend playgroups and kindergartens. The learning capabilities of humans continue for the rest of their lives but not at the intensity that is demonstrated in the preschool years. With this in mind, babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to help their intellectual, social and emotional development and this lays the foundation for later school success.

CATCH THEM YOUNG…

·         Prepare the would be parents [preferably through the Marriage Preparation Course]

·         Target those couples (in few selected parishes) and be in touch with them in order to make them responsible and concerned parents.

·         When a woman of these groups is known to have conceived, follow her with tips and other helps regarding pregnancy and other pre-natal preparations for a healthy and joyful pregnancy and childbirth. A mother must be a happy and positive person.

·         Follow them with post natal guidelines with regard to good health in body and mind and certainly emotional growth too.

·         There needs to be continuous monitoring of the child’s health, especially of its weight, height, immunity etc along with its emotional and intellectual health.

·         Once, the child is of play-school age, it could be put to such schools and ‘independency’ be encouraged.

·         This is imperative for lone child families for them to interact and grow…

·         Let him/her also be followed to the school and other areas where the child shows interest.

·         Now, let the child be of our target, with necessary inputs to the parents, especially the mother.

·         Exposure to the society and environment be ensured.

Implementation:

·         To start with, there should be an animator at each such parish.

·         Preferably that be a female and trained in child care both physical, intellectual and emotional…

·         She should liaison with the parents, teachers and others stake holders…

·         In the context of changing values, one should be flexible for the welfare of the child more than anything else...

·         In freedom and fearlessness they be brought up along with responsibility towards others.

·         Self-esteem and self-confidence be inculcated.

·         Encourage them to question, explore and certainly to dream/imagine.

·         Reading and reflection be fostered, besides other habbits.

·         Cleanliness and a commitment to good environment be taught.

·         She should be socially committed.

·         Should have an aptitude to deal with children.

·         Should be positive, joyful and playful/resourceful with enough seriousness.

·         Work should be evaluated periodically and necessary changes be effected…

Financing:

·         The animator be paid a just and decent wage with timely increments.

·         PF and other such benefits should also be made available.

·         This could be shared by the parish and the concerned ministries.

 ‘Child is the father of a nation.’

-pancretius

5^th Oct 2013